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What is Genderqueer ?

The label may also be used by
individuals wishing to identify as holding queer or non-normative gender
without being any more specific about the nature of their gender.

As an umbrella term,
Genderqueer has similar scope to nonbinarywith most
nonbinary-identifying individuals also considering themselves genderqueer.
However the terms have different scope and connotations. The term genderqueer
predates nonbinary by at least a decade.

History

Genderqueer was originally coined in the
1990s as 'Gender Queer' and was for a period written as 'GenderQueer' before
setting to a single word. The original meaning was literallyqueer gender, including anyone
who felt the way they experienced or expressed gender was queer. The term
carries the non-normative and anti-assimilationist connotations of theQueer Movementand applies these to
gender rather than sexuality.

The earliest known use of the termis byRiki Anne Wilchinsin the Spring 1995 newsletter ofTransexual Menace.

Riki Wilchins' essayfrom the 2002
anthologyGenderQueerdescribes how the original 'Gender
Queers' adopted the label because the intended-to-be-inclusive umbrella termtransgenderhad begun to be most
strongly associated withtranssexual,gender binaryidentified and
medicallytransitioningpeople, pushing out
those who did not fit thisdominant transgender narrative.

By 1999/2000, online communities such as theSphere mailing listwere using the term
genderqueer as an umbrella to unite a number of nonbinary gender identities and
identifications that are now thought of as under thenonbinaryumbrella. Over the next decade,
genderqueer developed as a standalone identity with particular (sub)cultural
expectations and connotations, while the tendency to identify particular
experiences under its umbrella seemed to diminish. However both uses are still
visible in different online and in person communities.

Difference between Genderqueer and
Nonbinary

Genderqueer means non-normative orqueergender while nonbinary means gender
that falls outside thegender binarymodel. Both of these
terms are extremely similar in scope, however in practice their connotations
are significantly different.

Genderqueer comes with the anti-assimilationist
political connotations ofQueer, which is a reappropriated
slur word (still actively used in some regions) with strong associations with a
countercultural sexuality movement that sets itself apart from the mainstreamLGBTcommunity. As such
genderqueer implies a similar counterculture, setting itself apart from
mainstreamtransgenderdiscourse. Most
genderqueer people also consider themselves to be queer and there is a strong
trend of rejecting the gender binary and normativegender roleswith in the Queer
Movement as a whole.

By contrast, nonbinary is more politically
neutral in its connotations. Nonbinary was coined as a descriptive term,
originally simply 'non-binary gender', used to describe the range of
experiences that fall outside of the binary gender model. There is no
countercultural anti-transgender discourse connotation, nor is there a
connotation of association with the wider Queer Movement. Nonbinary is intended
to simply cover the widest range of identities and experiences without
intending to describe their political or cultural philosophies and
affiliations.

Observed
differences between people who hold each identity

While genderqueer and nonbinary are
theoretically extremely similar in their scope as umbrella terms, in practice
genderqueer slants more towards those who identify asqueering genderwhile nonbinary tends to attract those
who hold specifictrans*ortransgenderidentities that fall
outside of the gender binary.

Genderqueer-identified people seem to be more
likely to holdbinary genderidentities (eg,
'Genderqueer Woman') while considering theirgender expressionorgender performanceto be queer or
non-normative, while nonbinary-identified people are more likely to consider
theirgender identity(or lack of gender
identity) to fall outside of the binary. Genderqueer-identified people seem to
be more likely to consider themselves to be queer or a member of the queer
community.

Nonbinary-identified people generally seem
more comfortable with considering themselves transgender and more likely to use
the language ofgender dysphoria. The adoption of the
term 'nonbinary' by parts of the genderqueer community may reflect a trend of
adopting the language of the transgender rights movement in order to make use
of and expand on the legal protections now afforded to transgender people in
some localities. Nonbinary-identified people may be more likely to be seeking
access to transgender medical care or legal recognition (akatransition).

Some nonbinary people reject the term
genderqueer as an umbrella term because they are offended to be associated with
queer sexuality, or still see queer as an offensive slur word.

Despite these trends and connotations, both
terms are used by some members of each group and so may be considered as wide
inclusive umbrella terms. Some genderqueer-identified people have sought
'transition', some nonbinary-identified people hold binary gender identities
and consider themselves to be nonbinary by gender expression, and it is
currently common for nonbinary-identified individuals to also identify as
genderqueer (especially as this term predates nonbinary by at least a decade).

Is Genderqueer Transgender?

There is controversy within the genderqueer
community over whether genderqueer people fall under thetransgenderumbrella. Despite the
work ofLeslie Feinbergin the 1990s to coin
transgender as a wide and inclusive umbrella term covering all forms oftransgressive gender, the term
genderqueer developed out of a frustration with the association between
transgender andtranssexualism,gender dysphoriaand thedominant transgender narrative.

It is common for genderqueer-identified
people to considertransandtransgenderto be synonymous withtransitionand so to claim
genderqueer as a non-transgender identity. This is especially true with people
who are genderqueer by gender expression only, but also applies to some
genderqueer people who are comfortable with their body and see transgender as
synonymous with bodily gender dysphoria.

As such, it is important when talking about
genderqueer and nonbinary people to recognise that not all people who hold
these identities consider themselves to fall under the transgender umbrella.

later in 2012 Genderqueer was also known as Gender-variants, Srishti Madurai the first literature and resource genderqueer students circle did many research on this particular topic.